Captivating Cato
by Burning Bunny Books
Summary: Although it is forbidden, Katniss and Cato are drawn towards each other. Their love is divine but dangerous and will conquer all those that oppose it. Katniss/Cato Catoniss
1. Enchanting Elevator

**I**** don't own the Hunger Games.**

**Please rate and review. Thanks!**

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><p><em><strong>"TO LOVE IS TO RECEIVE A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN."<strong>_

_**~KAREN** **SUNDE**_

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><p><span>Katniss's POV<span>

Cinna pulled Peeta and I out of the chariot, as Portia extinguished the flames.

"I'm going to our room, okay?" Peeta muttered.

"Sure," I smiled. He gave my hand a squeeze and trudged away through the crowd.

We were amazing. The crowd loved us! I couldn't believe that people had actually been throwing flowers at me. I even blew kisses at them. That side of me had never been seen before. Glancing around, I noticed that all of the tributes were sending threatening glares at us...except one.

A muscular boy, with blonde hair, just laughed in my direction. I checked behind me, but nothing was there. Confused, I peeked at him again, yet he was the same as before.

_What? Why was he laughing?_ Noticing that my gaze had stopped on him, the boy winked at me, still smiling.

"Well done, sweetheart." I turned around to see Haymitch behind me. He frowned, realising where my attention had been. "He's from district two I think. Part of the Careers so he's trouble."

Slowly, I returned my sight to the boy, who was now talking to his prep team. "What's his name?" I murmured, my eyes still glued to him.

"Does it matter?" Haymitch sighed, "Katniss, stay away from him."

"His name?" I asked again, stubbornly.

"Cato. Don't do anything stupid okay?"

Cato._ Cato. _So that was his name. I couldn't help, but wonder why he was laughing. It probably didn't mean anything. Was he just doing it to unnerve me? If that was it, it was definitely working. Or maybe he knew something that I didn't. Could it be that - "_Katniss!_ Are you listening to me?"

"Hmm? Yeah."

With a shake of his head, Haymitch said, "Just go to your room and get some rest. Keep away from all the Careers." It was an order instead of a request this time. Deciding that clearing my head would probably be a good idea, I made my way to an elevator.

After pressing the button to my floor, I leaned against the wall. Exhaustion took over, and my eyes drifted shut as I listened to the doors closing. When they were only slightly ajar, a slow, deep voice surprised me.

"Room for one more?"

Opening only one eye, I shot a sceptical glance at the man before me, who held the door open. Surprised, my breath hitched at who it was: muscular frame, ruffled blonde hair and those icy turquoise eyes. Of course it was none other than Cato.

"Do what you want." My voice was quieter than I had meant for it to be and it embarrassingly had a slight shake to it.

"Hm? I didn't quite hear you."

"Do what you want," I repeated, my voice slightly louder and firmer. With a mental pat on the back for my voice not quivering, I straightened myself and looked directly up at Cato, staring him down with a refusal to appear weak. His intense, blue eyes pierced through my dull, grey ones; it took all of my willpower to not flinch away. Slowly, he stepped forwards and cocked his head to the side, leaning towards me. It wasn't until I hit my back on the side of the elevator that I realised I was backing away from him.

"I don't think it would be a very good idea if I did whatever I wanted," he murmured, his face now so close to mine that his breath was tickling me. The doors shut once more, leaving me to be the prey of this ruthless monster.

"Why's that?" I gasped. He had a cruel smirk on his face, whilst he put his hands up on the side of the elevator on opposite sides of my head.

"Because," he whispered into my ear, "It would cause a lot of trouble for everybody else." I couldn't reply. Cato knew he had me trapped and enjoyed watching me squirm.

"So what? Go cause trouble if you want to."

He chuckled drily and said, "Maybe I will, fire girl."

"Katniss," I corrected. "My name's Katniss."

I expected him to come back with a snobby answer on how if you're from District 12, then your'e scum who's name doesn't matter, but after a moment of silence, he finally went a couple of steps back. As my personal space returned, I let out a breath that I didn't realise I was holding.

"Nice to meet you, Katniss." The way he said my name rolled off his tongue easily. There was a pang in my heart when I noticed that I liked the way it sounded.

_Wait. I didn't like him, did I? No, of course not! He's a Career. That's ridiculous._

My cheeks reddened into a warm blush. He grinned, amused. The smile was genuine, unlike the capitol's fake ones and there was a twinkle in his eyes. _Those eyes! _There was a hint of playfulness in them now. Somehow, even though he was still messing with me, I ended up getting a small smile too, feeling more comfortable.

"So you're not going to tell me your name?" I teased, attempting to clear my thoughts.

"Well, I expected for you to already know." Keeping a straight face, I raised my eyebrow.

"Cato," he laughed. "Career from district two." I looked him up and down, sniggering at his golden Roman costume. "What?" He pouts, searching around him for whatever it was that I found amusing.

"It's just," I giggled, "As if anybody can't tell that you're a career from that ridiculous outfit."

"Ha, bloody, ha." Despite his sarcastic tone, he had a large grin and...so did I. _What the hell? I was actually enjoying myself with a Career like him. What's wrong with me? _As I cleared my throat, I suddenly jumped from the doors opening.

Without glancing back, I rushed out, leaving my strange conversation with Cato behind.

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**-Burning Bunny Books**


	2. Close Call

**I don't own The Hunger Games**

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><p><span>Katniss's POV<span>

"Stick together?" Peeta asked.

"Sure," I agreed.

It had been a few hours since my 'chat' with Cato. Peeta and I were getting ready for our first training session. Nervous, we peeked through the door before entering the room. Hundreds of various equipment spread itself throughout the room. Instantly, my eyes locked on the area in the middle. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

Bows. Arrows. So many different kinds of them! In a trance, I automatically started stumbling towards them, with no thought about the Hunger Games or the other tributes around me. A hand on my shoulder shook me out of my daze.

"Don't even think about it," Peeta whispered.

"What?"

"Don't you remember what Haymitch said? Hide all of our skills. Don't let the others know."

"Oh, yeah. He did say something like that, didn't he?" I glanced at Peeta and then looked back longingly at the bows and arrows. They were so close! My body was itching for just a feel of them.

"C'mon." Grabbing my arm gently, he led us further into the room. It was now that I actually started paying attention to my surroundings. Most of the tributes were here already, but they didn't seem to be paying attention to us. We spent about twenty minutes at each station. After visiting the Camouflage Station, we started heading for the Basic Survivals one. On our way, we passed the careers. I couldn't help but stop and stare. All of them were watching Clove.

With a great fervour, she was passionately throwing knife after knife at different targets around her, each time hitting them dead in the centre. When her last one did yet another perfect hit, she turned around with a malicious grin on her face, greeted by her cheering allies.

I hadn't seen Cato since the elevator incident. I'd been avoiding him during the whole training session, but now, as Clove jumped with joy, our eyes locked with an intensity. _Look away. Look away. _My mind kept telling me to, but I couldn't move. Noticing him take a hesitant step towards me, I whipped my body around and began walking away, with Peeta right behind me.

"Hey!" Cato yelled at me, causing me to speed up.

I murmured to Peeta, "I'm going out for a little break."

"I'll come with you."

"No," I said a bit too quickly. "I mean, I just want to be on my own for a bit," I added. He paused, and then nodded.

"Okay." Although I hadn't been training for very long, I was feeling far too stuffy. Hoping that going for a walk would clear my mind, I headed for the roof.

Tranquillity washed over me as I swallowed my first breath of fresh air. Before I knew it, I was gasping and spluttering. I never realised how crowded it was inside. Back in District Twelve, I used to always go hunting whenever I needed to get away from everyone. However, I had nowhere to go here in the Capitol. That's probably why my first instinct was to go to the roof; it's the only place I could breathe.

A metal railing that I stood about a meter away from was lined along the edge of the roof. Bored, I picked up a pebble from the ground and pelted it over the railing. Sometimes, Gale and I used to have competitions with each other at home, throwing stones into a lake. Whoever got it the furthest would win. Memories of easier days with him in the forest invaded me.

After only a few seconds of having thrown the pebble, I was left astonished. Out of nowhere, the pebble came whizzing back up, grazing my hair slightly, but otherwise leaving me unharmed. I literally felt the wind of the ultimately close contact. If that hit my eye, I could have gone blind!

Astounded, I ran over to the edge to see what idiot had thrown the small rock at me. However, I was greeted by nothing but a very high view of the Capitol. No way could anybody have gotten it up here from down there. Frowning, I picked up another pebble and chucked it yet again, preparing for another possible attack from somebody.

Nothing happened.

Satisfied, I began to head for the exit to find Peeta again, until I heard a smash behind me. Turning around, I found many little rock fragments from a stone hitting the floor at a strong force. After a few more times of redoing this, I still got the same result. With a bit more attention being paid, I noticed that it was much like a force field. It probably even was. Every time I threw something down, it always came right back up again. I even tried throwing sticks too, whereby the same thing took place.

Grinning, I explored for more things to throw. This was actually quite fun. There were many rose bushes around, so I figured I might try some of them. _They wouldn't miss them would they? No! Of course not. The Capitol could easily afford to buy more roses._ Plenty surrounded me in various colours. I began reaching for some white ones, but immediately flinched away. President Snow always had a white rose on him.

Instead, I picked lots of red ones, arranging them into a neat bouquet. Accidently, I pricked my finger on one of the thorns.

"Ouch!" I hissed. Cursing, I held the bundle of roses with better care. As I got near the railing, I peered over it. The Capitol, as much as I hated it, really was a magnificent sight. It was colossal with insanely tall skyscrapers that towered above me.

Wishing for a clearer view, I began climbing over the railing and stood on top of it. I wasn't scared since if I fell, I knew I would be thrown back up again, just like everything else I had tossed. I stood, gazing at the city for only a few moments. I could have looked at it all day if I had the choice. A sudden shout from behind startled me out of my fantasy.

"_NO!_"

The shock of the voice caused me to begin wobbling, fear gripping me, although I knew I wouldn't die. All of my roses dropped from my hands. Attempting to regain my balance, I watched the roses drop over the edge.

They got smaller and smaller until I couldn't see them at all anymore.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! What do you think?<strong>

**I apologise for not having much Cato time in this chapter, but I promise I'll make it up to you in the next one.**

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**-Burning Bunny Books**


	3. Saved Suicide

**I don't own The Hunger ****Games.**

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><p><span>Cato's POV<span>

I felt so drawn towards her unlike any other girl I had ever met. There was something different about her. Don't get me wrong. I definitely didn't like her. She was poor, tacky and from District Twelve. No way could a guy like me like her. No, seriously. I _didn't _like her. I definitely _did not._ Sure, I spent most of last night thinking about her, but not for any particular reason.

It could be I just missed home. There were plenty of hot girls lining up for me back there. I guess there's not many choices for me here. The only few decent looking ones around were Katniss, Clove and Glimmer. However, Clove was basically family to me. We grew up much like siblings. Glimmer was just clingy and annoying. That left only Katniss behind.

I have to admit though that her feistiness interested me. Again, _I did not like her_. I just liked her innocence, tinted with rebellion and how unpredictable she was. Take what had just happened now for example.

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><p>Yesterday, she had basically run off from me. Business was left unsettled and I was agitated. I had only been teasing her. When she left the elevator without turning around, I felt like she had just flipped me off.<p>

Since then, she had been avoiding me. Now though, our eyes locked. This time I wanted to turn around and leave - let her see what it's like to be ignored! _Turn around. Turn around. You twat. Why aren't you turning around?_ I was begging myself to just move or at least break eye contact, but I was stuck in place. Her brown orbs burned right through my blue ones. Getting weak kneed, I began cursing silently to myself. _Get a grip!_

Before I knew it, her back was turned and she was going the other way.

_No way! _This was just like yesterday in the elevator all over again. The same gut wrenching feeling was creeping up on me again. _What was this_? I only ever got like this after being with Katniss. Was this... _rejection?_

"Hey!" I yelled before I knew what I was doing. I'm_ Cato! I don't get rejected. I reject others. _Was it just me or did she speed up after hearing me? Annoyed, I followed after her through the exit.

"Cato!" Clove grabbed my arm, but I just shook her off and left.

After a whole ten minutes wasted trying to find her, I tried the roof. As I came out, the sight that I was about to see of her made me snap.

She stood, holding a bunch of cherry red roses in her hands, next to the railing. Dazed, I watched her climb up and stand with no hesitation on the railing. She actually looked flawless, captivating me with her bewitching radiance. The breeze whipped her long, delicate hair behind her in the wind.

This was the moment that the most petrifying thought I've ever had burst through me, making my blood curdle:

_She's going to kill herself._

"_NO!_" I howled, racing towards her. I regretted shouting instantly as I saw her wobble and nearly drop with the roses. My heart stopped when she was balancing barely on one foot. I got to her just in time.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I tugged her with all of my strength into a tight embrace. I pulled so hard that we ended up tumbling together on the gravelly floor. Eventually, we both stopped rolling. I was sprawled out on my back with her laying on top of me, leaning on my chest. Panting heavily, we both stayed in the same position for a few moments, catching our breaths.

At first I thought I was hallucinating. All around, hundreds of red petals floated down on us. It was all a dream, I thought. Flinching, Katniss began getting up - or at least I thought she was. Instead of standing, she sat in a position so that her legs snaked around me, as she rubbed a sore part of her neck.

_Oh crap. _I wasn't hurt enough to oblivious to what was going on now. Katniss Everdeen was on top of me. I could feel a pressure building in my pants and it took all of my self control to not flip her over now and do all sorts to her. No man would be able to resist getting turned on in a situation like this. I couldn't help, but desire her. Her brown locks were cascading down her face and tickling mine, with her seductive lips pink and plump, so close to me, beckoning me to kiss them. To also have her straddling me right over my erection and panting so heavily on top of me, I couldn't help getting hard.

I mentally punched myself. How could I be like this towards a girl who literally just attempted to commit suicide. _I really am messed up._ As much as I tried to stop these thoughts, they wouldn't go away so long as she stayed where she was. Completely oblivious to the effect she had on me, she watched in wonder at the endless petals falling around us. I moaned in pain and lust, accidentally catching her attention. Snapping out of her trance, she looked down at me bewildered, and then suddenly angrily.

"What the hell?!" Katniss growled, "Why did you do that?"

"I couldn't let you go through with it," I gasped.

"It's none of your business what I do!" she screamed.

"Yes it is!" I leaned up into a sitting position; she didn't seem to notice that she was still on top of me. "And you're welcome, by the way."

"What for? For breaking my bones?" I flinched at the scowl on her face.

"For saving your life."

"_When_ did you..." she paused. Her eyebrows knitted together as she looked at the railing behind her. Some sort of realisation hit Katniss as she turned back towards me, eyes wide and mouth gaping. "Wait, did you think I was..." she trailed off, but then sucked in a sharp breath.

"Why were you doing that?" I shouted at her now.

"I..." she said softly.

"_No_! You can't jump."

"But I..."

"Never do that again!" I became aware now that I was violently shaking and my voice was hoarse. Was I actually scared of this girl dying? I didn't even _like _her or care about her, so why did I save her? "I thought...I thought I was going to lose you," I admitted. There was a lump in my throat, like an apple blocking my airway, and my eyes stung. _Oh my God. _This was the feeling I would get whenever I was about to cry as a child. I hadn't cried in years. No way would I start sobbing now. Taking another shuddering breath, I looked away. Why was I getting so worked up over this? It wasn't like I even knew her.

Soft hands tenderly cupped my cheeks, gently pulling my face to look at her again. Startled, I took in Katniss's features: blushed cheeks, eyes flitting with shyness and quivering lips.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She was about to say something else, but before she could, I pulled her into a tight embrace. I didn't even care what she was from District Twelve anymore. Something about her made me act so differently - so out of character.

"Don't do that again, you hear me? Never do that again. Never even _think_ about doing that again," I ordered sternly, releasing my hold of her. "Promise me you won't."

She looked in pain as she spoke, "But Cato, I - "

"No. Promise me. I don't care what reasons you may have, but you can't give up now. _Promise me!_" There was a moment of silence until she spoke.

"I promise."

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	4. Rosefull Rooftop

**I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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><p><span>Katniss's POV<span>

I hadn't known what was happening. One moment I was standing on the railing, enjoying the view. The next I was wobbling over the edge. I had been faintly aware of somebody yelling, but you can't blame me for being more concentrated on the fact that I was going to fall. Before I knew it, somebody with an iron grip pulled me off. Whoever it was must have been stupid, since we both ended up rolling on the floor.

At first I was completely out of it. My neck hurt. My body ached. I must've hit my head at least a million times. Sitting up, I had been distracted by the sight around me. Although I was in pain, so many red petals rained down. When my roses had fallen, the force from them being hurled back up must have been pretty strong to make the petals all come undone from the full flowers. It was absolutely beautiful - a complete fantasy.

A moan below me shook me out of it, whereby I was met by a face. I shouldn't have been surprised. Of course it was him. He always caused trouble. I should have known it would have been him.

_Cato._

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><p><em>A while later<em>

"Never do that again!" Why was he shouting at me? I didn't do any -_ oh! _At first I assumed he was just brain dead to think that I had killed myself. He should have known that I would come right back up if I fell. Only now I realised that he didn't know that. To anybody it would have looked like I was about to attempt a suicide. I must be the brain dead one. "I thought...I thought I was going to lose you."

I only started paying attention to him now properly. He looked like an absolute mess. His facial expression was familiar - much like Prim's when I volunteered as tribute to replace her. He looked away. He was ashamed I think of looking weak. The memory of Prim and seeing him like this caused me to soften in understanding. So that I wouldn't alarm him, I slowly held his cheeks, turning his face back to mine.

Working hard to not get upset myself, I whispered "I'm sorry." I couldn't trust my voice to speak properly. I was about to explain to him of his misunderstanding, but he surprised me by pulling me into a bear hug. This was not the Cato I knew. He was meant to be fierce and inhumane. He was meant to be a savage. Maybe I had misjudged him. I quite liked this new Cato. He was not what I thought he would be.

"Don't do that again, you hear me? Never do that again. Never even _think_ about doing that again." I was still leaning against his chest as he held me and spoke these words. He was so warm and comfortable that I was slightly disappointed when he let go of me. "Promise me you won't." I had to make him understand that I wasn't trying to die.

"But Cato, I - "

"No. Promise me. I don't care what reasons you may have, but you can't give up now. _Promise me!_" It was so comforting the way he acted concerned for me. It must have been an act. Why would he care about me? Wouldn't it make things easier if I died now? One less person to hunt down in the arena? However, if this was an act, he was doing a bloody good job at it. He was so intense and emotional. No way could he have been faking it.

I decided to trust him, for better or for worse.

"I promise." He let out a breath of relief, and then started looking uncomfortable. I looked down and my eyes widened in embarrassment. This whole time... I've been straddling him, and I still was. It didn't help that since he'd sat up, our faces were very close to each other.

Coughing, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'm fine. Just a bit sore. You?"

"I'm alright. Where did you hit your finger?" I looked down and saw it was bleeding.

"Oh, I pricked it earlier on a thorn," I said, popping my finger into my mouth. As I sucked it, Cato became very awkward. He looked around at the petals still falling around us, raising an eyebrow in question towards it all.

"I... I'll tell you later." Embarrassed, I was eager to get out of here. I guess it didn't really matter whether Cato knew I wasn't trying to kill myself or not. I'm sure that he would have reacted that way with anybody. Attempting to get up, a sharp jolt seared through my right leg. Gasping in agony, I collapsed onto the chilly floor, clutching my limp leg.

"What happened!" Cato lunged towards me, helping me up.

"My leg," I hissed through my grinded teeth. Only a few seconds later, he scooped me up in his arms and started carrying me. "What are you doing? Put me down. Put me _down_!"

"You're hurt, aren't you?" he snapped, taking me to the exit.

"Yeah, but..."

"Then shut up. It's my fault that you fell on your leg. I should've been gentler." I had no idea what to say so since I couldn't do anything, I decided to enjoy the ride and relaxed a little. As we walked, I looked into his eyes. Ever since I'd first seen them, I'd found them fascinating.

Yes, they were blue, but that wasn't a sufficient enough description to catch the intensity of them. It wasn't an ordinary blue. They were so icy and cold. I used to think his eyes were like the sea - crystal blue, shimmering and churning. However now it was slightly different. His eyes were no longer the sea, but an ocean, with far more knowledge and complexity hidden inside, and numerous untold secrets. His eyes were a frozen ocean though, full of lots of mysteries. You could no longer hear the waves crashing or see froth flying in the air. Everything was silent whilst he determinedly rushed down the stairs with me in his arms.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"First Aid to get a doctor."

"But all of the doctors are in the Training Room to help out with accidents."

"Okay, we'll go there then," he said.

"No!" I begged, "I don't want any of the other tributes to see me weak. Especially not the reporters or I'll lose sponsors."

"But your leg..." he said, unsure of what to do.

"Please Cato, don't make me go there," I pleaded. He sighed.

"Where should I take you then?" After thinking for a moment, I decided.

"My room."

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	5. Romantic Rush

**I don't own The Hunger Games.**

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><strong>Please leave a review and I hope you enjoy this story!<strong>

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><p><span>Cato's POV<span>

"My room."

"Okay," I nodded, carrying Katniss into the elevator. She was so tiny and light in my arms - a fragile creature. "What floor?"

"Thirty-four," she replied.

"I'm on thirty-four too."

"I thought that floor was for District Twelve's tributes and team only?"

"It usually is like that. I was meant to be on floor eight, but there's a problem with the plumbing. No water will come out in the rooms so we were transferred to your floor."

"Oh," was all she said.

I knew that the way we were acting was forbidden. She definitely knew it too. After all, it's probably never even occurred in history for somebody to date anybody from another district. It was worse for us since our districts were never exactly known for getting along with each other. The doors opened, and I stepped out.

"Which way to your room?" I asked.

"Turn right, and then straight ahead." As I walked around the right corner, Katniss sucked in a sharp breath. "Quick, go back. _Go back_!" she hissed. Immediately, I sprinted back in the direction we came from.

"Who did you see?" I panted.

"I'll explain later. Just go," she urged. Without even meaning to, I automatically proceeded to my room instead of the lift. We were alone. Luckily, it was empty around here. My team were busy doing their jobs or relaxing and Clove was in the training room playing with knives. Carrying Katniss into my room, I searched for somewhere to place her. "Aren't you going to put me down?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, yeah." Quickly, I placed her on my bed, and then backed away a couple of steps. Rubbing my neck, I awkwardly watched her.

"What're you scared of?" she questioned. "I don't bite."

"I'm not scared," I laughed.

"Then why do you keep moving away from me?"

"I'm not moving away fro - " Oh, I was. She smirked. "What? Would you like me to come closer?" I changed my tone of voice. If she wanted to play, I could play. I took a few steps closer to her, but she didn't flinch.

"Doesn't bother me," she replied. Although her face and posture was straight and calm, her eyes were shining with playfulness.

"Oh really?" I enquired, getting closer to her, "So this doesn't make you feel any different?" By now, I was already quite close to her, so I was expecting her to become uncomfortable and look away.

Instead, Katniss surprised me by leaning forward until our noses barely grazed and whispered, "Not. At. All," emphasizing each word. At first I was only messing with her, but for some reason, I couldn't get her to back away. Determined to make her realise that I was the dominant one, I grabbed her wrists and pushed her down on the bed. Quickly, before she knew what was happening, I was on top of her and had her pinned down, my face still only an inch away from hers.

"And now?" I grinned.

"You're quite fast," she admitted, feigning defeat, "But not fast enough." At light speed, she slid from underneath me. Suddenly, our roles were reversed, with her on top instead. In response to my shocked expression, she said, "You didn't really think I was just some weak little girl from a poor district, did you?" I couldn't help, but be impressed. After a moment of silence, I burst out laughing. _All this time, I had been misjudging her!_ She wasn't just some poor girl from District Twelve. "What?" she asked, laughing with me.

"Just thinking 'bout something."

"About what?"

"You," I grinned.

"What about me?" she beamed.

"About how you're actually bloody brilliant."

"Well, that I already know," she giggled, and then broke into another fit of chuckles. "Isn't it strange how this is the second time today that I've overpowered you and pinned you down?"

"You did not overpower me!" She didn't even seem to hear me as she carried on speaking.

"After all, I thought that careers were supposed to be a lot stronger."

"I am stronger," I argued.

"If you say so," she snickered, rolling off of me. She leaned against the headboard of my bed and flinched. I had forgotten about her leg.

"One sec." I got up and went to my cupboard, pulling out a medical box. Back home, careers were always trained to be ready for anything. Because of this, I had an advanced knowledge for dealing with injuries.

"What are you doing?"

"Where about does it hurt?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"Ankle." Yet again, I sat beside her on the bed. I was about to reach for her leg, but then I paused.

"May I?"

"As long as you know what you're doing." Reassuringly, I smiled at her and she nodded at me to continue. Holding her foot, I carefully removed her shoe and rolled up the bottom of her suit. The sight of her swollen ankle made me cringe. It was already bruising and was bound to get worse.

"How is it?" Katniss hissed in pain, biting her lip and clenching her fists, as I touched it.

"Broken," I murmured, "I think your ankle is broken." This was not good - really not good. I mean, it was good for me, since that is one less person for me to worry about killing in the arena, but this could potentially be the death of her. _Why did this bother me?_

"But," she whispered desperately, "I'll be okay, right? It'll heal overnight, won't it?" I knew that she was a smart girl. She clearly understood that it would take a long while to get better, but we only had two days left until the Games. Noticing her eyes watering, I sighed.

"It'll probably take about six weeks, judging by how bad it is."

"What? _No! _You know I don't have time," her voice quivered, "Please... Cato..." Her hopeless anguish was too much for me. All of this time, I had been telling myself that I didn't love her - that I _shouldn't. _And yet here I was, wishing that I was the one with the broken ankle instead of her. I was being an idiot and fooling myself when I kept thinking that I only liked being with her because of boredom. I realised all of this now.

I wanted to protect her. I didn't want her to die, but she had to in order of my survival. Maybe though... I could help her enough to be friends with her for just a couple more days. Somebody else could kill her in the arena instead of me. I didn't want to. If I were to die during the Hunger Games, I wanted her to win. However, there might just be a way for me to keep her alive...

I couldn't believe I was about to do this.

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	6. Painful Problems

**I do not own the Hunger Games**

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><p><span>Katniss's POV<span>

I couldn't believe it. I was going to die. I always knew that I only had a small chance, but I still had a chance. Now I had none. How could this happen? I promised Prim... she can't survive on her own. There's no way that I can count on our mother to look after her. Sure, she's been getting better lately, but what if she zones out all over again when I die? Prim will have nobody then. No... No... _No!_

I couldn't die. I _wouldn't _die. I had to survive this.

"Well, I guess there might be a way," Cato interrupted my thoughts, "But it might be a bit - "

"_Please_," I begged. "Just do it!"

"I don't know if it will work though."

"I don't care. Please try." If there was any way of me being able to get home to Prim, I would take it.

"It could harm you more, or even kill you," he added. This made me hesitate.

"What exactly is it?"

"I never really wanted to volunteer for the Hunger Games. It was already decided as my fate by my family before I was even born." I frowned, wondering why he was telling me this. "I was always more interested in potions and such. I made this at home..." Cato put his arms behind his neck and began twisting the back of a necklace. It was quite simple, with a large diamond shaped stone at the bottom. After removing it, he fiddled with the stone. "Open," he murmured. Confused, I watched closely, as it made a clicking noise, and he carefully opened the stone in half. Inside was a clear liquid.

"So...?" I asked.

"After a lot of studying about medicine, I created this. According to the ingredients, it should be able to cure almost any injury very quickly, depending on how bad it is. If you had a scratch, it would be cured in a few seconds. For a broken ankle, it would take about half a day, compared to six weeks."

"Impossible! Even the capitol don't have this type of technology yet."

"Actually," he murmured, "I think they do. However, they won't release it to the public. It would be a nightmare if everybody had access to this, since they would be almost immortal." It made sense, but I still wasn't sure why he was showing me this.

"Then what's wrong with it?" I wondered.

"It hasn't been tested. I'm not entirely sure if it will work or..." he trailed off.

"But why do you have it?"

"It's my token. I was going to take it into the Games with me in case of an emergency."

"But you would be risking your life if you used it. You just said you weren't sure if it would work," I accused.

"Yeah, I would be. It's better than nothing though. I figured that if I had a really big accident and no medicine, it would be better to discreetly drink the potion than to just let myself die." He seemed to be making sense, but I had so many questions.

"That's true, but that's violation of the rules. I barely got to keep my mocking jay pin, since some idiot thought I could use it as a potential weapon. Didn't the testers see the liquid inside when they were checking the tokens?"

"Nope. It's voice activated." He demonstrated by closing the two pieces of the stone back together again. "Close," he said. There was a little click, and he handed it over to me. "Go on. Try opening it." I tugged the sides, and tried twisting it the way he did, but nothing happened.

"Open," I tried, but nothing happened.

"Open." When he talked, it clicked. This time it opened when I tugged it.

"How do I know you aren't trying to poison me?"

Chuckling drily, he replied, "If I wanted you to die, I would just have to wait two days. You can't survive with your ankle like that." I guess that was the painful truth. I sighed.

"Why would you help me though?"

"I don't know," he simply said. Somehow, I trusted him. It might seem very foolish, but it was because he said that he didn't know that I trusted him. Cato wasn't giving excuses to cover up after himself. He was just being plainly honest, even if I don't understand why.

"Okay. Do I just drink it?"

"Yeah, but - " I was about to swallow it down, but he grabbed my wrists, stopping me. "I don't think we should do this now."

"I have nothing to lose though, right? If I die, I'm just dying a couple days early. It saves my family from having to see me get murdered, too."

"I know, but just give it a little longer. There could be side effects. You can try it tonight. Come to my room and find me."

"We have interviews later though. I need to be able to walk," I panicked.

"I'll sort it out." He saw the doubt in my eyes and added, "Trust me. Just survive until the interviews later. From then on, I will look after you."

"Thank you," I murmured for the first time.

"Don't worry about it. It's my fault that you got hurt in the first place."

"_Cato! Are you in here?_" a feminine voice interrupted.

"Crap. It's Clove," he hissed. Cato quickly scooped me up again in his arms and walked around the corner of his room to his private bathroom, and locked the door. We heard Clove enter the bedroom, and then leave a few seconds afterwards. "It's okay. She's gone."

"What am I supposed to do until tonight then? I still can't walk." Hesitantly, he placed me on a stool, and then began rummaging through one of the cabinets. He opened a tiny box from there, taking out two tablets, and poured a glass of water.

"Here." He passed them over to me, as I eyed the tablets sceptically. "They get rid of pain. Hopefully, they'll work for you. They only last a few hours though, so have them now." I nodded; if he wanted me dead, he could have just left me. I decided to trust him. Placing the tablets in my mouth, I washed them down with a gulp of water. As the minutes passed and I waited, I could feel the pain slowly ebbing away. It went from a dull pain into a complete numbness. "Do you want to try to walk?" he prompted.

"What if I fall?"

"Don't worry. I'll always be there catch you."

"Promise?" I asked.

"Promise."

"You better keep it. People who break promises are cowards."

"Cross my heart and hope to die," he winked, drawing a cross on his chest, and held up his little finger.

"What?" I laughed.

"I pinky promise."

"Pinky...promise?" I had no idea what he was going on about.

"Yeah," he said, lifting my hand up. He hooked his little finger around mine and repeated it again, "I pinky promise." It must have been some sort of thing made up by his district. Giggling at his silliness, I attempted to get up, but fell over. Cato caught me and pulled me back up.

"Told you. I'll always be there to catch you."

"Thanks. After all, you did 'pinky promise'," I scoffed. Afterwards, I was able to walk, but I had to pay very close attention to it.

"You better get back to your room. Have a bit of a practise walking before going to the interviews, and I'll meet you later." Thanking him, I headed for the door, but as I was leaving, he called my name. "Don't forget. I'll always be there to catch you. Or at least, if you fall, I'll fall with you." Watching my feet, I left, grinning the whole time.

I actually had a chance. I could survive this. I owed it all to the person who should be right at the top of my least trusted list. My rival:_ Cato._

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	7. Secretive Stage

**I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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><p><em>Cato's POV<em>

After being with Katniss, I had gone back to training, but my heart wasn't into it. She continued to linger in my thoughts, distracting me. Nobody mentioned anything so I hoped that they didn't notice. Later, I returned to my room to find a note on my bed. Next to it was a perfect, white rose. Perplexed, I read the note.

_I know your secret.  
>Tell everybody or I will.<em>

_Wait. What?_ I figured it must have just been a prank. I didn't have any secrets that anybody could figure out. Scrunching it into a ball, I chucked it into the bin with the rose, and didn't think much more of it.

As the day dragged on, I didn't see Katniss until we began getting ready for the interviews. All of the tributes were together, waiting for their turn to talk on stage. One by one we would go up, hoping to leave the best impression. Before I left for my go, I spotted Katniss. To reassure her that everything would be okay, I nodded in her direction, and she gave a subtle nod back. Nobody noticed, and so I walked up. It went quite smoothly. When my time was up, I still hung around, watching the other tributes. Since Katniss is in District Twelve, I had to wait ages for her interview.

Eventually, her name was called. I watched intensely as she shook hands with Caesar Flickerman.

"So, Katniss," he began. "The Capitol must be quite a change from District Twelve. What's impressed you most since you arrived here?" Worried, I noticed that her face was blank and she didn't reply. Did she not hear him? She looked into the audience for a moment and then answered the question.

"The lamb stew," she says. Caesar and the audience laughed, and then I found that I was laughing too. They continued talking for a while until I saw Caesar's expression change.

"Now, Katniss. When you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think of that costume?"

"You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive?" she asked. I grinned. She was building her confidence and the audience already loved her charmingly witty way of talking.

"Yes. Start then." She gazed into the audience as she spoke.

"I thought Cinna was brilliant and it was the most gorgeous costume I'd ever seen and I couldn't believe I was wearing it." Smiling, I remembered my first impression of her. Sure, the dress was pretty cool, but Katniss was the one that made it beautiful. Without her, it was nothing. Silently, I cursed myself for thinking that about my rival.

Out of nowhere, I felt something hit the back of my head. I turned around to find a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. I couldn't see anybody that would have a reason for doing that. Frowning, I picked it up and unfolded it. Inside were only a couple written words and a single, white petal. The paper said:

_Last chance._

I sighed. Whoever was trying to prank me needed to stop. It really wasn't funny. Shaking my head of my thoughts, I put my concentration back to the interview. She was standing up. Wait, what did I miss? The time wasn't up, was it? Why was she getting up?

Mesmerised, I gaped at her beauty. She began twirling with flames engulfing her. Katniss didn't look like she was in danger though. As she spun, the fire danced around with her. It was like she owned it and was controlling the fire to do her will. They were one. How was she able to do that with her bad ankle? It was meant to be numb, so she was supposed to barely be able to walk. I looked down and her heels turned with her. However, they were wobbling, and I could tell that she was about to fall. I seemed to guess correctly as she began gracefully landing in a pool of flames. Instinctively, I ran to her, barrelling past other people.

_I'm not going to make it to her in time..._ Forcing myself to use all of my speed and strength, I hauled myself towards Katniss.

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><p><em>Katniss's POV<em>

I twirled and twirled, sensing the flickering flames revolve around me. As a loss of balance and dizziness overtook me, I remembered my injury. It was still far too numb, and as I attempted to regain my composure, I realised it was too late. I was falling. _You know what? Forget it!_ I was tired of worrying about everything in life. I could just let myself fall and let it all be over with. I couldn't be bothered anymore.

Not only was my foot numb, but my whole body felt like it too. I became detached from the world and felt nothing, but coldness. I allowed myself to drop; giving up was much easier than always trying so hard. Expecting my face to smack dead into the floor, I found myself shocked instead.

Warmness enveloped me. Something firm. I suddenly felt very protected and alive again. I didn't collapse; I was safe. But how? Why? Was it my Guardian Angel come to save me? Or was it an Angel of Death, ready to take me to the next life. Whatever it was, I was ready for it. When I managed to find the face of my saviour, I saw that he was indeed an angel. The angel and I both lay together on the floor, side by side, his arms around me, and my face hidden in his chest.

Reluctantly, I inched backwards a little to understand who he was and was going on. The prepossessing eyes of Cato bore into mine. How could such icy blue eyes be so tenderly warm and affectionate? They were filled with frosty fondness.

"What..." I struggled to speak.

Chuckling, he replied, "Did you forget already?"

"I don't under-"

"I told you I would always be there to catch you." In response, I laughed. He didn't exactly manage to catch me. He then added, "Or at least, if you fall, I'll fall with you." Slowly understanding what he was saying, a loud cough made us both jump a little. We both looked up to see Caesar giving us very strange looks. Sucking in a sharp breath of air, I gawped at the audience. They were all so silent, without making any noise.

Only then did I remember that we were still on stage. Oh my God. _Oh my God. _How could this have been happening? Cato and I both sat up, just as confused as everybody else. As if things couldn't get any worse, what happened next nearly killed me.

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	8. Troublesome Tributes

**I do not own the Hunger Games.**

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><p><em>Katniss's POV<em>

Noise. So much noise. The whole audience had burst into tumultuous cheers; it was chaos. Cato and I glanced at each other, unsure of what to do.

"Silence, please!" Caesar shouted, but with no effect. "Silence! _Silence!_" Eventually, the crowd quietened down to small murmurs and whispers. Cato stood up, but I was in too much shock to move. He took my hand, pulling me up with him. Caesar seemed to be at a loss of words as much as us, and he usually always knew what to say. The crowd were inaudible, yet their tranquillity was deafening. Hesitantly, Caesar tried to talk. "Katni-"

Instantly, he was cut off by the buzzer that signalled the end of the interview. Cato began walking off stage, until he noticed that I was still glued to my spot. He walked back over to me. "Come on Katniss," he whispered. Tugging my hand, he added, "We have to go," but I couldn't move. Everybody around us observed us, their eyes watching our every move. "It's okay, come on." What was I going to do? I'd ruined everything. I shouldn't have moved like that when I knew that I had a bad ankle. Now I'd messed things up for both of us. If I wasn't going to win the games, I had wanted Cato to, since he gave me a chance. This could effect _his _chances drastically. It was all my fault.

He scooped me into his arms, the same way he did on the roof. Hiding my face in his chest, I tried to get images out of my mind. Although my eyes were blocked, I could still see in my mind the judgmental stares from the audience. Not only them, but everybody would be seeing what just happened live on TV. All of Panem. All of my potential sponsors. Everybody in the districts. My family. Gale. Prim.

Cato carried me effortlessly away, and I could hear the silence from the stage once again becoming a complete pandemonium. We kept going until the noise steadily left. Once it was quiet again, Cato put me down. We were in one of the corridors on our floor. "I... I'm sorry," I murmured towards the ground, without looking up.

"What? You have nothing to be sorry for. It's my fault for the way I handled it."

"But I - "

"No," he interrupted. "Don't worry about it. There's no use fretting over what can't be changed."

After a moment, I finally looked up at him and said, "Thank you." He nodded and took my hand.

"Come on. We can continue to watch the interview from my room." When we got there, Cato turned on the TV and rewound it by 5 minutes. It began showing me twirling on stage, and then soon came to Cato catching me and us falling on the floor. It all continued on exactly the same as it had occurred in my memory. I looked just as stupid there as I felt during it. _This is a nightmare. _As much as I wished for it all to stop, the TV continued on. I cringed when it showed Cato lift me up, carrying me off stage. By the angles that it was filmed, it looked like I was cuddling against him, when really I was trying to hide from the audience.

After we had left the stage, the screen showed the audience going into an uproar, just as I had thought. A lot of people were yelling for us to come back up again. Caesar took about a minute to calm them all down again.

"Yes, yes. That really was quite interesting. However, we still have one more tribute to interview. Maybe we could have an added private interview for Katniss and Cato if President Snow will allow it." Cheers of agreement pierced through the speakers. Caesar continued, "For now, let us welcome our male tribute from District Twelve: Peeta Mellark!" Peeta walked on and shook Caesar's hand. The crowd shouted at him, asking about what had happened with Cato and I. "Do you have any idea what that was about?" Caesar questioned him.

"None at all. I haven't even seen those two talking before," he replied smoothly. _Good, good._ This put less of people's attention on me and made it seem more coincidental. Their conversation topic changed and soon they were just babbling on in the normal interview way. Getting bored, Cato selected the 'fast-forward' button on the remote, until it was live again.

"Tell me," Caesar says curiously, "do you have a girlfriend back home?" After a doubtful moment of hesitance, Peeta shook his head. Catching on, Caesar laughed. "Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl." Peeta didn't reply. "Come on, what's her name?"

"Well," Peeta sighed, "there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping." The crowd made little sympathetic sighs. _This is brilliant! _Thanks to Peeta, everybody would have definitely stopped thinking about what happened with Cato earlier. He was distracting them so well, making them all think of their own failed loves.

"She have another fellow?"

He replied, "I don't know, but a lot of boys like her."

"So here's what you do," Caesar began. "You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" Woops escaped the crowd encouragingly.

"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning..." he trailed off, "won't help in my case."

"Why ever not?" I was just as confused as Caesar and everybody else around. To be honest, I kind of wanted to know who it was, and I was thankful that people were focused on him only now. Blushing, he began to stutter.

"Because... because... she came here with me."

Wait... what? Did he just... what? _What? _Shocked, I gaped at the screen, unable to fully comprehend what he was saying. I couldn't quite mentally grasp the idea. _Me. _He meant _me! _Whilst what he said sunk in for everybody else, the camera focused on his face. A few people made pitying noises, disgusted that he would have to either kill or be killed by me. Others screamed in distress and heartache.

With a legit voice of agony, Caesar said, "Oh, that is a piece of bad luck."

"It's not good," Peeta strained to say, agreeing with him.

"Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young lady." Murmurs of agreement droned from the audience. At first I had begun to believe him, but then I knew better. Obviously, he was doing this to get rid of me as competition. He had just made me look even worse than before. Standing up, I gave the screen a dirty look. Caesar asked, "She didn't know?"

"Not until now." Enraged, I began backing away and ran out the door.

"Katniss! _Katniss!_" Cato called after me. However, it was too late. I was already gone.

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